Conflict in the Gulf has had an immediate, severe, and probably long-lasting impact on packaging material costs and it is easy to feel helpless in the face of this turmoil. However, shippers can take back an element of control in one simple move \u2013 by using the right size box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On manual, or even semi-automated, packing lines when packing an assortment of goods into a single box or carton, the temptation is always to reach for a box that is safely (or too often, grossly) larger than that strictly required. But this is inherently wasteful, and under the present circumstances, increasingly expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, by exploiting automated \u2018right-size\u2019 boxing technology businesses can combat waste and expense on three fronts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Eliminate plastics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With many of the familiar void fill products used in transit packaging, such as bubblewrap and Polystyrene shapes, made from plastic materials derived from oil and gas, prices for these products are bound to rise significantly. Since the start of the conflict the benchmark Brent crude has moved from $73 per barrel to well north of $100 and may yet go much further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Availability of these products are also likely to be impacted, as an increasing proportion of world supply now comes from the Gulf oil and gas producing countries themselves \u2013 both production facilities and of course shipping through the Straits of Hormuz are, to put it mildly, compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why are businesses cramming these increasingly expensive materials \u2013 which are also environmentally unfriendly \u2013 into the voids of oversized packages? There is an alternative approach: by right-sizing, shippers can often eliminate the need for void fill \u2013 plastic or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Use less board<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fluted board of course doesn\u2019t derive from petrochemicals. But the conversion processes, from timber to pulp, and then into board, are again energy intensive and unless the mills are fortunate enough to have easy access to hydro-electricity, energy bills will inevitably rise and with them the factory gate price of card and board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As timber has to be hauled out of often inaccessible locations, and as finished board delivered to users often at a considerable distance, pricing will also reflect increases in road diesel and ships\u2019 bunkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As leaders in \u2018right sizing\u2019 automation, Packsize finds that its clients typically save up to 29% of their board costs by right sizing. Combined with the elimination of void fill, their bill for packaging materials can be reduced by 35% or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has also been noted that there is a general trend in e-commerce in particular, predating the current conflict or even the \u2018cost of living\u2019 crisis, for consumers to place a higher number of smaller orders. That means that packaging \u2013 including wasted packaging \u2013 tends to form a greater proportion of each consignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, if anyone needed further incentives to reduce packaging material use, the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility levies on packaging materials in the UK has added another layer of cost to transit packaging materials. Likewise, those operating in the EU or selling to that market will start to feel the impact of the EU\u2019s Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulations when they are applied in August 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Save on transport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That leads to our third front in the cost control battle. Transport fuel costs are often the very first area to react to this sort of crisis. By right sizing consignments, it is possible to load many more packages onto a single vehicle \u2013 in most cases it is volume, not weight, that is the ruling factor. With higher packing density there is greater potential to reduce the number of trucking journeys out of the distribution centre and \u2018last mile\u2019 couriers, using smaller vehicles, may be able to carry a full shift\u2019s worth of drops rather than having to return to the depot for reloading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s more, savings in \u2018volumetric weight\u2019, the basis for charging by airlines and many other carriers, can be significant. These are economic and environmental benefits that are important at any time, but especially now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Packsize\u2019s automated \u2018right size\u2019 packaging solutions offer many other benefits, including high throughput, significant labour reductions and reduced scope for error and damage. These attributes ensure that payback is often measured in months rather than years, and in the current cost environment, the \u2018right size\u2019 proposition is ever more attractive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Conflict in the Gulf has had an immediate, severe, and probably long-lasting impact on packaging material costs and it is easy to feel helpless in the face of this turmoil. However, shippers can take back an element of control in one simple move \u2013 by using the right size box. On manual, or even semi-automated,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,64],"tags":[1120,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-22086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corrugated-folding-carton","8":"category-latest-news","9":"tag-packsize","10":"tag-top-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22088,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22086\/revisions\/22088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}